Thank you to our users and our donors...

[danp]

This week we broke 1000 threads and 700 users, with the rate we are growing I think it's safe to say that we will break 1000 users by the new year. We're receiving well over 1000 unique visitors a day and have pushed 8000 pageviews a day. We have a page rank of 6/10 on google and in turn come up extremely high in google searches for almost everything related to pennsylvania gun ownership and often for general gun-related searches.

To sum up what this means simply: These numbers are astounding.

I've never seen a forum grow so fast and honestly it is in no small part thanks to every one of you guys. When all is said and done the members of this forum are the ones creating the content, expanding the knowledge base, and helping each other. You guys have been awesome. People come to this site with questions, and from what I've seen those questions are almost always answered correctly within a few minutes.

1. We have people coming to this site that have never shot before who now have memberships at ranges they found based on recommendations from this site.
2. We have people who had never shot a gun who bought their first gun based on recommendations on this site from gun shops recommended on this site.
3. We have people meeting up at their local ranges with new friends they've met on this forum.

So I just wanted to say thanks, we've done a lot, and I think we have a lot left to do.

I also wanted to take the time say thank you to the people that have donated to the site. I've set up a page on the main website that lists who has donated so far just as a way of recognizing the people so far who have helped. Many people are listed anonymously either by request or because I have not had a chance to contact them about it yet.

http://www.pafoa.org/content/view/page/support-donors/

So far we have recovered 39% of our costs involved with the site (software, stickers, etc.) through donations which is fantastic.

In related news by sometime around the new year we SHOULD be incorporated legally as a 501(c)4 non-profit organization (similar to the NRA, and the VCDL). Once we do that and we are set up from a legal aspect it will open a lot of new doors for us and allow us to do things I am not 100% comfortable with doing until then such as selling things like t-shirts.

Lastly, while I plan on always keeping this forum free to all users, any further donations would be extremely appreciated. The fact of the matter is, to get ourselves set up as a NPO the right way we're going to need to work with a lawyer. NPO's are very serious entities and there is a lot to learn, we really need a lawyer to help us set up, write bylaws, and answer the many questions that exist in running an NPO. The downside to this is that lawyers are expensive and while I will do whatever it takes to make sure we get things done I'll be perfectly honest in the fact that I am a young guy that doesn't have deep pockets from which I can pull all the cash I want to spend on PAFOA.

The moral of the story is this: Whatever it takes to make PAFOA great will get done one way or another, but if you appreciate what we're doing and what we want to do in the future, and you have the ability to help out contact me at donate@pafoa.org (PayPal can be sent directly to that address, if one chooses.) Any donations will be HIGHLY appreciated, and you'll even get your name up on the donors page above (or anonymous if you want.)

Once again, thanks to everyone for signing up and contributing.

[billamj]

Dan - While I certainly can't speak for everyone I have to say that if it weren't for you, this great community wouldn't exist. YOU are the one who deserves the thanks of every member of this board. YOU are the one who has done all of the hard work. I want to thank YOU for everything that you have done. Young guy or not, you have shown that you are the kind of involved person that we need more of in this country. Thanks!

[aubie515]

I had a feeling we would break 700 members last weekend...and it happened. That is great news that the site is growing so rapidly. I am glad that I found this place...met some great folks here and I cannot wait to meet more members.

[danp]

Just wanted to add a note for all the people that have donated and all the people that might donate in the future:

In the future PAFOA will have an offical "membership" with benefits and such and all donations made before that system comes into place WILL be credited in the future. So if theoretically you donate $50 and a "membership" costs $25/year you will be credited for 2 years worth of membership when that comes into being.

Also wanted to take this chance to thank an anonymous member who made an extremely generous donation and bumped us up to a 39% cost recovery percentage!

[Archiver]

"Build it and they will come" You filled a vacuum for sure! Thanks!